Kevin

Upcoming Event at Muskoka Authors Association…

I will be speaking at the Muskoka Authors Association in Bracebridge on WEDNESDAY, November 13th. Looking forward to some on-the-spot writing exercises and communion with fellow creatives. For several years I have felt a bit like an adopted child of the Muskoka region on Northern Ontario. It’s the place where I do the lion’s share of my novel writing. I have been going up to Huntsville, Ontario, in the heart of Muskoka, every year for over ten years. Huntsville is host to the yearly fundraiser for literacy known as the Muskoka Novel Marathon…where 40 or so writers get locked into a room together for 72 hours so that they each may attempt to write a complete novel in one sitting. It’s a magical experience that has had me falling deeply in love with Muskoka and its creative community.

From the Muskoka Authors Association website:

Novelist and Playwright, Kevin Craig, Shares Tips on Jump Starting Your Writing!

About this Event

Try Everything! Quirks and Tips to Help You Jump-Start Your Writing…

On Wednesday, November 13, Muskoka Authors Association welcomes, Kevin Craig, author of six published novels (Summer on Fire, Sebastian’s Poet, The Reasons, Burn Baby Burn Baby, Half Dead & Fully Broken, and, Pride Must Be A Place). Kevin will give a short overview of their own writing journey, including how they bounced from one form of writing to another while attempting to stay focused on their long-term goal of writing young adult novels. Kevin will also share how they discovered there is more than one way to write a novel, and that you should explore the different ways with each consecutive novel you write. They will discuss how invigorating it can be to explore alternate writing forms along the way to your own writing goals, whether they are to write the Great Canadian Novel, a screenplay, a memoir, or a poem. As well, Kevin will discuss how important it is to allow yourself to escape your comfort zones while getting to those goals.

Whether you’re new to writing or a seasoned pro, you should never be afraid to try something new. New forms of writing can often trick our creativity and jump-start a stalled project back to life. They may even accidentally help you to discover new creative callings. What if the novel you’re writing is actually a play? Maybe the short story you’ve been struggling with is really a collection of poems.

Kevin will introduce some of their favourite exercises and prompts that helped in their own creative journey. Like Kevin, you may find that the journey is just as exhilarating and rewarding as the destination. Attendees should come prepared to write and share their work.

Kevin Craig is also a five-time winner of the Muskoka Novel Marathon’s Best Novel Award. Kevin’s seventh novel, THE CAMINO CLUB, is forthcoming from Duet Books, the YA imprint of Interlude Press (October 2020). In addition, they are a playwright with a resume of ten short plays and two one-act plays staged in various places from Toronto to Mumbai, Australia, and the United States. Kevin’s poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals throughout the world. For several years Kevin worked as a freelance writer, writing everything from articles on interior design and travel to interviews with musicians such as Bif Naked. Several of Kevin’s songs have been recorded by various artists. Kevin was a founding member on the board of directors for the Ontario Writers Conference and is currently a member of the Writers Community of Durham Region. Kevin lives in Toronto, Ontario.

You can visit the EVENTS PAGE HERE FOR TICKET INFORMATION.

Here’s a link to the MUSKOKA AUTHORS ASSOCIATION WEBSITE.

It’s All About the Epigraph!

What’s the most difficult part of writing a novel?

Sure, the following steps could be difficult:

Creating an Outline (If You’re Not a Pantser)
Writing the First Draft
First Round Edits
Choosing a Title
Second Round Edits
Writing a Synopsis
Third Round Edits
Writing a Summary
Fourth Round Edits
Writing a Query Letter
Sending out Queries
Discussing Possible Contract with Agent/Publisher
Signing Contract
Doing Steps 7-10 over again with Agent (if Agent Acquired) and then Watching as Agent does Step 11 on Your Behalf.
Acquisition, Contract Signing
Editing Stages with Publisher
ARCs.
Marketing, etc

Yep. Each step has difficult to impossible written all over it. But nope. Somewhere in there is another step for some people. Epigraph. That little ole beloved quote up at the top of page one that serves to encapsulate the book’s mood. That little spark that ties it to the world.

I’ve always loved reading them in other books, so I knew as soon as I graduated to writing books that I would want to use epigraphs. Choosing them is one of the best parts or writing a book…but also one of the hardest. Some quotes come close and you love them more…but they’re not spot on perfect. Some you just love but they don’t come close. Others…they just seem to nestle into the top of your story like a glove…ah, sweet perfection.

I’ve had 6 books published now and 5 of them have epigraphs. I’m currently contemplating an epigraph for my 7th book and hoping against hope that my publisher will be cool with me using one. (-:

Here’s the epigraphs so far. You can click on the novel title to be taken to the book on Amazon.

BURN BABY BURN BABY BBBB

HALF DEAD & FULLY BROKEN

HDAFB

PRIDE MUST BE A PLACE

PMBAP

SEBASTIAN’S POET

THE REASONS

How about you? Am I the only one who obsesses over epigraphs, both in the books I read and in the books I write? What are some of your faves? Do you use them yourself?

My Young Adult Novel THE CAMINO CLUB to be Published by Duet Books (an Imprint of Interlude Press)!

I am beyond ECSTATIC to announce the sale of my young adult novel, THE CAMINO CLUB!!! It has found a home with DUET BOOKS, the young adult imprint of INTERLUDE PRESS!

CAMINO

When I first set out on my own journey on the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route back in May of 2014, I did so with a kernel of an idea for THE CAMINO CLUB novel percolating in my writer-brain. I had dreamed of writing a young adult novel that would combine a Breakfast Club scenario with the famous Camino pilgrimage route known as Camino Frances (or The French Way).

As my feet touched down on the pilgrim path, I imagined six juvenile delinquents reluctantly setting out on the very same path. They would be there not because they wanted to be there, but because they were court-mandated to be there. THE WALK youth diversion program would give all six of them the option to walk the pilgrimage route across Spain or serve time in juvenile detention.

I imagined their juvenile delinquent hearts being in a very different place at the onset of their pilgrimage than mine was at the beginning of my own. But I also tried to imagine that they would arrive at the famous cathedral in the city of Santiago de Compostela as changed as I was at the end of my own pilgrimage. I envisioned them softened, transformed, and maybe even less broken than they were when they set out on their forced adventure.

20140529_152147 — This is a famous monument found on the Camino de Santiago, and one that my characters visit in my latest novel, **THE CAMINO CLUB** (This is found at **MONTE DO GOZO** or **HILL OF JOY**, which overlooks a valley from which pilgrims on the Camino can get their first glimpse of the spires of the famous cathedral in Santiago de Compostela).

As I completed my own Camino, I knew that the Camino de Santiago would stay in my heart forever. And I also knew that I had to share it…and I longed for that share to be impactful, meaningful. I wanted others to find the unbridled joy I discovered while walking The Way. If I could move just ONE person to discover the Camino and add it to their bucket list, I would feel as though I had won.

Camino de Santiago 1234 — One of the countless vistas pilgrims will come across while making their way across Spain on the Camino de Santiago.

It took me a few years of meditating on the concept, but I finally set out to write the novel that had been living inside my heart ever since I took that first footstep on my own Camino path. I had, after all, walked with all six of my characters alongside me. It was time to sit down and write their stories. I even had an idea for a seventh integral character, an homage to a ‘character’ I met on my pilgrimage across Spain…a magical character who stays with me to this day.

I could not be happier about the home this novel has found. It’s the home I wanted it to have all along. I’ve been amazed by INTERLUDE PRESS and DUET BOOKS ever since I first discovered RUNNING WITH LIONS by Julian Winters. I’ve kept my eye on them, ever hopeful that The Camino Club would somehow one day be a good fit for their boutique publishing house.

Interlude announced the deal today, so I can now say it’s official! The Camino Club has found its WAY!

camino2 — A statue of a pilgrim making his way along the Camino de Santiago, complete with the Galician Cross, pilgrim’s staff and water gourd.

More details to follow, but for now I’m just thrilled to be able to announce the news! Eternal thanks to Annie Harper and the rest of the group at Interlude for taking a chance on this book that is so very near and dear to my heart in ways no other words I’ve ever written have been.

Time to celebrate! I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

Buen Camino, Peregrinos!